What's in a name?

The new RHS President, Elizabeth Banks, set off a media storm last week as she accused the BBC of dumbing down in its flagship television programme, Gardener's World, hosted by former Woodland Supervisor and trainee here, Toby Buckland.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mrs Banks urged gardeners not to be afraid of using proper botanical latin names rather than the common names which can vary widely not only country to country but county to county.

So whilst a rose by any other name may, indeed, smell as sweet we must be sure it is in the first place a Rose (Rosa) and not a Rock Rose (Helianthemum) or a Rose of Sharon, a common name applied to many different plants including Hypericum calycinum. So perhaps it's time to look more closely at plant labels at the Botanic Garden. For an in-depth explanation, follow the link to the left.